


The Shadow of Quackmore Duck

by agentz123



Series: Team Uncle Week 2020 [5]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Ambiguous Deaths?, Ambiguous Disappearances, Don't worry, Donald Duck Needs a Hug, Fluff and Angst, Frank Be Wilding on Tumblr, Gen, Laying Eggs, Light Grief and Mourning, Luck vs Merit, Parents, Role Confusion, Self-Esteem Issues, Slight Scroldie, Team Uncle Week, Team Uncle Week 2020 (Disney), Twin Bond, and he gets it, happy endings all around, kept promises, minor character death?, parental figures, parenting, supportive brothers, supportive uncles, team uncle, unconventional family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28169415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentz123/pseuds/agentz123
Summary: The triplets have been laid.Team Uncle Week 2020, Day 4 - Parenting
Relationships: Della Duck & Huey Duck & Dewey Duck & Louie Duck & Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck & Della Duck, Donald Duck & Della Duck & Quackmore Duck & Hortense McDuck, Donald Duck & Della Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Scrooge McDuck/"Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt
Series: Team Uncle Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984786
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	The Shadow of Quackmore Duck

**Author's Note:**

> Not me giving up Ducktober and coming back to Team Uncle months later -- 
> 
> Okay so that was extremely intense but I think I did okay, considering it was 31 straight days of prompts including Team Uncle Week being thrown in there and it was my first time. I think I'll save some of my WIPs for next year since no one is in the Halloween spirit right now? 
> 
> Don't go to school, kids! It stops you from writing about ducks! /j

When Donald and Della Duck were eleven, they lost their parents. 

No one knows how, who, where, any of that. All anyone knew was that there was something foul afoot and an “Agent 22” was involved. 

After that day, Donald swore, if he were to ever have children, he would never leave them. Ever. Under no circumstances. He would never put anyone through that type of pain. 

Now he was being put to the test. 

Della was preparing to lay a clutch. Della was his sister, his twin, so, by some type of weird extension, he was also preparing to lay a clutch. 

Well, just preparing for one, anyway. 

He swore to her that he would be there for his nieces or nephews like Uncle Scrooge had been there for them, and he remembered her hugging him so hard one of the eggs had shifted in her belly. 

Scrooge found his favorite nephew in the hallway outside of Della’s assigned room, wringing his wings nervously as he paced himself into a deep rut. “Donald? What’s the matter with ye? Why arenae inside? That stubborn mule of a girl is holding those eggs in waiting fa ye.” 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I...I think I made a mistake.” 

“What? Are ye gravid too?” Scrooge joked. He sat his nephew down on a bench nearby. The cool metal didn’t help his own shivering, but that was more so from excitement than anxiety. Upon a single glance, one wouldn’t have been able to guess that Scrooge McDuck loved kids, but in a small way, his sister’s passing was a blessing. He was too shy and Goldie was too fickle for them to finally settle down, and he didn’t think his heart belonged to anyone else. “What de ye do?” 

“I made a heavy promise. One I don’t think I’ll be ever able to keep.” Who the heck was he kidding when he said he didn’t mind being the “father” of the triplets? He was flighty, angry. His voice would probably scare the kids so much they’d cry. He had a hard time being patient, and on top of all of that, he was holding himself to _Scrooge McDuck_ standards. Sheesh, not even solely Scrooge McDuck. He was thinking of his own dad. There was no way Donald would ever be to fill his shoes. He should just go away. It’d probably be for the best…

And there it was! He was thinking about leaving and they weren’t even born yet! He IS a jerk. 

The old miser saw a few tears running down his nephew’s beak, and he clutched him in a tight hug. “Look, Donald,” he whispered fiercely in his ear. “Yer the most loyal duck -- man, even -- I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Ye’d move the heavens and the earth to make sure ye complete whatever duty ye've been commissioned to.”

“Whatever,” Donald sniffed.

“ _No,_ it’s not ‘whatever.’ Lad, the way yer worrying over yer word allows me to see yer not apprehensive about abandoning it; just not following through. Is that right?” There is a nod against his shoulder, and Scrooge continued. “Then it’s all about hard work. That’s it. And ye definitely know how to put that in. Dinnae fret, lad.” Scrooge finally pulled away and held his nephew’s cheeks in his hands. If he looked closely, plunging into the depths of Donald’s eyes, he could see a small speck of Quackmore’s mischievous glint among the dark waves. He missed that old maddening muttonhead, too.

Scrooge finally separated himself completely and went to hold the door open for Donald. The sailor burst into the hospital room and was blinded by the sharp whiteness and the bright lights. Uncle Scrooge had sprung for the VIP suite, which must’ve meant Very Intense Pain, since Donald was afraid to blink, should his eyeballs fall out. Feeling an odd sensation of sterilization, he made his way to his sister’s bed and grabbed her hand. “I’m here now.”

“YOU’RE LATE!” But there wasn’t much bite to her words. Fear, mostly. Her mom would’ve known what to do…

Della shook off the grief and nodded to the midwife. She slammed her eyes shut, but demanded that Scrooge and Donald stayed by her head the entire time, and would know if they ever drifted away. Donald especially, since he promised not to let go until it was all over. 

And he kept his word. Even though it took him an unbearable twelve hours to do so. 

Things were looking up.

***

Three nurses had returned with the shiny clutch of eggs and informed the trio that they were all going to be healthy little boys. Della gave a weary smile. “See, Uncle Scrooge? I told ya. If you want a grand-niece, you’re gonna have to ask Donald. Or is it great-niece?” 

“Psh. Me, with kids?” her twin joked half-heartedly. “Get out of here.” He helped her sit up so that she could properly accept her children, and took a few steps back. He wasn’t aware of how he snatched up his uncle’s hand in anticipation. 

“Thank you,” she whispered to the medical assistants as she pressed the eggs to her chest. She could’ve sworn she felt them moving already. “And Don, stop it. Don’t act like you don’t talk to them or play the guitar for them when you think I’m asleep.” Scrooge guffawed, and his niece turned on him next. “And Uncle Scrooge, wanting to wait to do all of your banking at night now? What was that all about? Trying to count shillings like sheep so they sleep better?” 

“Erm...yer imagining things, you paranoid pest. The hormones, I reckon.” 

She rolled her sore eyes and asked Donald to put her babies under the heat bed the hospital had provided. “A-are you sure, Della? What if…” He couldn’t bring himself to voice the worst. What if he dropped them? Or he was too cold? What if, as soon as he laid a finger on one of them, they all just started cracking? “ _...my luck!_ ” 

Della tiredly waved him off. “Are you kidding?” she panted. “You’re Donald Duck. Come on, you palooka, I’m exhausted.” 

Donald turned and gave his uncle a ghastly frown. Scrooge just gave a reassuring smile and lightly jabbed the lad with his cane, forcing the younger duck to inch closer to the hospital bed. “Go on ahead, lad. Like the two of ye always say, ‘Ducks don’t back down.’ Just put in the hard work and ye'll succeed."

With a new resolve, the sailor adjusted his cap and leaned forward to scoop up the precious eggs from his sister’s arms. As soon as he did, her eyelids fluttered shut and she went limp. 

He looked down at the babies in his arms, and for the first time in his entire life, he didn’t feel a trace of anger. Okay, okay, he didn’t want to push it. He slowly crept to the lamp and set each of them under the heat. 

Maybe...maybe he didn’t have to be a father. He could be something...different. Not better, necessarily, but not worse either.

When he turned around, he saw Scrooge removing his hat dutifully and preparing to give his nephew a handshake. “Welcome to Team Uncle,” he announced. That was the word he was looking for. _Uncle._

Donald was too busy squealing to shake his hand.

Things were looking up.

**Author's Note:**

> "And _I'll_ be the single most important member of the family: THE UNCLE!" -Launchpad McQuack


End file.
